ChatGPT Ads now show during image generation, Search Engine Roundtable reports
What this answers
- Does ChatGPT show ads while it generates an image?
- Yes, in at least some accounts. Search Engine Roundtable reproduced an ad headed "Here's an ad while we create your image" that disappears once the image finishes, and a second user reported seeing one on Nov. 10.
- When did OpenAI announce the ChatGPT image-generation ad format?
- OpenAI announced it on Oct. 5, 2026 as a new visual ad format, saying testing would begin later that month in the US with an initial group of advertisers.
Per Search Engine Roundtable, ChatGPT is displaying an ad headed “Here’s an ad while we create your image” while an image is being generated; the ad disappears once the image is finished. Barry Schwartz reproduced it himself after a tip from Juozas Kaziukėnas, who said he began seeing it on Nov. 10 in a conversation unrelated to the advertised product. OpenAI announced the format on Oct. 5 and said testing would start “later this month” in the US with an initial group of advertisers; neither the report nor the sightings say how many users or advertisers are in the test.
Why it matters: Ads now sit inside a ChatGPT task that is neither a search nor a question, which widens the surface advertisers can buy and moves part of the paid layer away from anything answer-engine optimization can influence.
Via Search Engine Roundtable ↗ · OpenAI (Oct. 5 announcement) ↗
Posted to the wire November 10, 2026. Edited by Joe Balewski.